Peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide are used in many products. US Patent Application Publication No. US 20020086039 (Lee et al.), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes the use of peroxide in such products as cosmetic, personal care, cleaning agent, biocidal agent, functional food, and nutritional supplement compositions, antibacterial, antiseptic, antibiotic and first aid products, depilatory, epilatory and hair bleaching products, toothpaste products, mouthwash and mouth rinse products, contact lens treatment products, laundry detergent, stain remover, and fabric softening products. It is well known that the decomposition of peroxides produces a significant volume increase. It is well understood that the liquid form of hydrogen peroxide decomposes to produced a volume increase of 11.2 times the volume of gaseous oxygen, on a molar basis. It is also well known that the breakdown of peroxides is accelerated by various factors including heat, light (particularly UV light) and the presence of transition metals. Thus, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,304 (Wong et al.), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, these peroxy compounds can have the undesirable effect of gas evolution that can cause the swelling and sometimes bursting of tubes containing a product having a hydrogen peroxide.
Oxygen scavengers are well known in packaging materials for use in packaging many oxygen sensitive products, including food products. Exemplary is U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,622 (Speer et al.)
U.S. Pat. No. 6,818,150 (Galland et al.) discloses a packaging article, such as a rigid container or flexible bag, having an oxygen scavenging polymer, and wetting the interior surface of the article with a solution containing a peroxide. The '150 patent requires that the wetted surface be exposed to an initiating factor in the form of ultraviolet light, heat at a certain minimum level of hydrogen peroxide, visible light at certain wavelengths, or electron beam radiation, to initiate the oxygen scavenging reaction.